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Kasey Kahne wins pole for Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas

Kasey Kahne, a newcomer to Hendrick Motorsports, will start first in Las Vegas on Sunday after winning his 23rd career pole. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

Kasey Kahne concedes he's not much of a Saturday qualifier and that he'd rather use Friday for qualifying, Saturday for tweaking and Sunday for racing.

Case in point: Friday afternoon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Kahne got his first pole as a Hendrick Motorsports driver by being fastest in time trials for Sunday afternoon's Kobalt Tools 400. Overall, it was the 23rd career NASCAR Sprint Cup pole for Kahne, who previously raced for Evernham Motorsports, Gillett-Evernham Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports and Red Bull Racing. He's two races--and three qualifying sessions--into being teammates with Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Hendrick.

Going late in the 45-car session, Kahne turned a lap of 190.456 miles per hour in his No. 5 Chevrolet. That beat the 190.040 mph of Toyota driver Kyle Busch, the 190.014 mph of Chevy driver Kevin Harvick, the 189.873 mph of Hendrick teammate Earnhardt Jr. and the 189.807 mph of Toyota driver Clint Bowyer. Five-time series champion Johnson was sixth in a Chevrolet, then three-time and reigning champion Tony Stewart in a Chevy, Joey Logano in a Toyota, Greg Biffle in a Ford and Martin Truex Jr. in a Toyota.

Kahne now has more poles (seven) than anyone since the start of the 2010 season. He had four in 2010, two more last year and now Friday's at LVMS. Except for his 2009 season with RPM, he's won at least one pole in each of his seven-plus seasons. Until Friday, he was tied with Carl Edwards for the most since 2010.

“That was a good lap (but) it was faster in practice,” he said. “It was a little tight; it wasn't perfect, but I was on the gas and these Hendrick engines run so well. I felt good about it, but it definitely wasn't a perfect lap. I like qualifying on Friday, more than on Saturday. I want Saturday for practice and getting the car ready. I don't know what it is about Friday qualifying, but I like it and hope tracks don't move it to Saturday.”

Daytona 500 champion Matt Kenseth qualified 11th and recent Phoenix winner Denny Hamlin was 17th. Edwards, whose only win last year came here, was 21st. All told, 15 drivers broke the old track qualifying record of 188.884 mph that Kenseth set just last year.

Kahne credited that with softer right-side tires and the standard progress of teams building better cars and better engines. “The Hendrick engines really pull great,” he said. “I was on the gas almost the whole time and it really pulled me. That and the tires are why so many people beat the track record.”